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Our Character, Our Duty
Character is "An element which unites the most forcible persons of every country; makes them intelligible and agreeable to each other; and is somewhat so precise that it is at once felt if an individual lack the Masonic sign." I came across this quote in a book by Inazo Nitobe written in 1905. The book is entitled BUSHIDO and is an explanation of the principles of Japanese Bushido--"the code of moral principles which the knights were required or instructed to observe. It is not a written code; at best it consists of a few maxims handed down from mouth to mouth or coming from the pen of some well-known warrior or savant. More frequently it is a code unuttered and unwritten...a law written on the fleshly tablets of the heart" Natobe tells us.
As I was reading, well, rather studying, this book it dawned on me how similar was the character of the men of bushido and their contemporaries, the medieval knights, and indeed men of strong character everywhere. Namely these character traits include rectitude or justice, courage and a spirit of daring, benevolence, politeness, veracity and sincerity, honor, duty, loyalty, education and training, self-control, and more. There are MANY similarities between the European Medieval Knights, the Orders of the Warrior Monks, and some of the fraternity societies if one will look for them. The Brenham Budo Club strives to keep alive those character traits of honor, respect, brotherly love and affection, charity, and the defense of the helpless that were held in high esteem by the crusader knights.
While Mr. Natobe points out that in Japan there was "no channel of human activity, no avenue of thought, which did not receive in some measure an impetus from Bushido. Intellectual and moral Japan was directly or indirectly the work of Knightood. Mr. Natobe puts it this way: " ...social evolution, in so far as it is other than biological, may be defined as the unintended result of the intentions of great men; further, that historical progress is produced by a struggle not among the community generally, to live, but a struggle amongst a small section of the community to lead, to direct, to employ, the majority in the best way."
When the best of society is indistinguishable from the "profane"--those of the rest of the world--there is no reason for the rest of the world to participate in the "crusade" of making good men better--for it is in name only. We should strive to be that small section of the community that leads. We should be among those "great men" with good intentions. It is OUR duty to set the example for others. It is OUR duty to teach others the strength of character illustrated for us and demonstrated to us by our teachers and their actions. It is OUR duty to live by the code of moral principles..an unwritten code...of a few maxims handed down from mouth to mouth...a law written on the fleshly tablets of the heart". It **IS** our duty.
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